#i totally think robin had an emo phase

[umemiyan]

Hiii robin! If you're cool with it, I wanted to ask, is there a certain moment with your selfships when you realize you ship with them, or is it a slow process that just kinda happens?

hi romy!!!! ❤️

tbh it kinda depends and i'm not always totally sure LMAO i'm a little all over the place with it. like a lot of the time i have a hard time deciding and i'm trying to create a classification system in my head akfjofijwe tho it probably shouldn't be that deep my brain just loves to cling to systematization and gets frustrated when it can't properly execute it lmfao. but anyways i shall try my best collect my thoughts and describe how i perceive my tendencies!!

i'll put it below the cut bc i always ramble lolol

there are definitely some ships where it was more of a slow progression and i had to eventually be like "yeah okay this is what it is" because it was getting to the point where they weren't going to leave. i could easily envision more in-depth scenarios between them and myself and/or lore that just seemed to naturally spring up and i just kept thinking about them all the time.

i'd say megumi is a good example of the slow-burn. he honestly wasn't the kind of character that heavily struck me when i first watched the anime and started reading the manga; in fact, i recall being like "oh great, another little hateful emo boy" LOL (historically they're not usually the type i'm drawn to). but i got to know his character better over time and realized that like. damn. i have rather intense feelings about this guy adjewoijfwof

toji and jean were a bit more on the "slower" side of development as well i suppose. and not "slow" in the sense it took several months or years or anything (i've only been self-shipping for about a year) but it was something i had to ease into a bit more i guess.

i actually hated toji at first but then the daddy issues kicked into overdrive and i eventually started catching feelings LMFAO and jean was my first self-ship ever. he's the first one where i felt comfortable enough to imagine myself with someone like that <3 i hadn't really truly done anything like that in years, but i loved his character so much that i was starting to actually insert myself in reader stuff rather than completely detaching like i used to. i could see myself with him.

suga, on the other hand, was the kind that hit me like a freight train. maybe it's because i'm more comfortable with self-shipping now, but it was easier for me to realize it and take it to self-ship level pretty quickly. not only was i obsessed with him from pretty much the first fucking moment, but the subsequent relationship daydreams have been insane LOL i mean i gave it a little bit of time because i hate the idea of being overly impulsive and irrational due to infatuation but uh. i fucking love him lmao

katsuki is..... *sigh* idk. he also kind of hit me like a freight train, at least with the daydream scenarios and whatnot, and i was hoping and praying it was just a phase (still kind of am) but i guess i've sort of accepted that it's not. or it's at least a longer-lasting phase than most lol idk. but i can't stop thinking about him and i'd rather just go ahead and call it a self-ship instead of continuing to try and wait it out or deny it. the brainrot is bad

ANYWAYS sorry for being unable to shut the fuck up as per usual lmfao but yeah!!! i tried to give some examples of how this shit works in my mind. right now i guess i'm sort of organizing things by how regularly/consistently i think about a character over time and with what degree of ease i imagine myself with them in several scenarios, but this is by no means the sort of parameters i think everyone should use when it comes to this. people should do whatever the fuck they want i just take shit too seriously sometimes and wish i could be more chill actually instead of trying to create a classification system for everything in my brain 😃 but here we are

[immergladsss]

Moonacre Week 2021

Day 1: Zoom/Video Call

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31641653

“For next class, please read chapter 9 and be ready to discuss the social and political impact of the Norman Conquest on England—and don't forget, your essays are due this Friday. Have a wonderful day and stay safe!”

Maria watched, unblinking, as square after black square disappeared from the virtual ‘room’. Not even the professor had their camera on.

‘This meeting has been ended by the host.’

The zoom window finally closed.

Maria blinked.

4:56 pm read the time centered against the starlit wallpaper of her Mac book screen. She turned to look at her planner that was strewn over her bed.

No more classes for the day.

Maria fell back onto her bed with a groan. She rubbed her dry eyes, not caring one bit that she was smearing the little make-up she coaxed herself into putting on that morning.

“ 'Dress the part’ they said. ‘It'll make you feel normal’ they said,” Maria mumbled to herself.

She didn't feel normal, all she felt was drained. It was the start of her second year at university… and well over six months into a pandemic that showed no signs of stopping.

She raised her iphone. 4:57 pm. The locking screen was of her family. A picture taken the day of her nephew’s first birthday, December 2019. Georgie was centered in the picture, sitting between her uncle Benjamin and Loveday. Maria stood next to her uncle, leaning over his shoulder, while Ms. Heliotrope, their nanny, was by her side with an arm around her back. To Loveday’s other side was Loveday’s father, Mr. De Noir, and her brother, Robin.

Maria wiped her eyes with the hem of her t-shirt. It felt like an eternity since she last saw them. She missed them. Unlike her roommates, she didn’t move back home at the beginning of lockdown. She had just started an internship, one that was supposed to go well into the summer. Yet only 3 months later, she and the rest of the interns were dismissed, with promises to still receive full class credits.

With public transportation being the only way to get home, she didn’t want to risk her or her family’s safety. Yet day after day, her longing for home depressingly grew like the number of covid cases.

María turned on her side and clicked her laptop back on. She opened her FaceTime app and typed in Loveday’s name.

She propped herself on her elbow and began the call. As she waited, she grimaced at her disheveled appearance. Her red curls were in a messy bun, black mascara smeared around her eyes, her university-themed t-shirt was slipping over her shoulder. The very picture of a work-from-home student.

Lately, she and Loveday had begun a new game, ‘Fashion: Covid’. They would jokingly judge each other's "outfit”, as well as the rest of the family’s, as though they were judges on Project Runway or Next in Fashion. Maria smiled. She couldn't wait to see what Loveday would tease her about today.

“Maria!” A husky voice greeted, “It's been a while—”  

Her eyes flew open as she slammed her laptop shut.

She scrambled out of bed and ran to her bathroom, stumbling over her laptop’s charging cables. Maria washed her face with cold water and soap, doing nothing more than smearing her make-up.

“Oh bugger...” Maria pried open her mirror cabinet, spilling some products as she grabbed her make-up remover. ‘What was Robin doing at the Manor?’ Maria hastily squirted the remover onto the cotton ball, splashing some on her shirt and cursing under her breath. She scrubbed her eyes, ignoring the sting of the remover seeping in.

She rinsed off her face. Grabbing her hand towel, she rubbed her face dry, and ran back to her room, diving right into her bed.

She opened her laptop. 5:01 pm. ‘Crap’. she took longer than she intended. Maria redialed Loveday, hoping he would still be there.

“Maria, what happened?” Loveday answered the phone. Her blond curls were tucked into a fish-tail braid that draped over her shoulder. She was wearing her uncle’s faded brown jumper from his university days.

“Hi Loveday… sorry my internet went down for a bit. You know how it is.”

Loveday nodded with a frown. “Your face looks a bit red, are you running a fever?”

“No, I—”

“Fever?” She heard Ms. Heliotrope shriek from the back. Maria was startled as Loveday’s camera began to shake, before finally settling a bit too close to Ms. Heliotrope’s face.

“Oh, my goodness, Maria you’re red! I must go to you at once!”

“Ms. Heliotrope, I’m fine! I just washed my face.”

Ms. Heliotrope narrowed her eyes, bringing the phone so close to her face that Maria could only see her forehead.

“I don’t believe you. If I take a plane, I can be there by the end of the day.”

“Hang on! Look, I’ll prove it.” Maria climbed out of bed and pulled out the thermometer gun her family had sent in a care package. Sitting back down in front of the camera, she pointed the gun to her head.

Beep. 36 C.

“See, I’m healthy. Besides, it’s much too dangerous for you to travel.”

Ms. Heliotrope looked crestfallen, almost as though she wished she had a reason to be with Maria. “Hmm… Alright my dear. Make sure you check your temperature every day and report to us any symptoms. Please take care and let me know if you need anything! I love you and miss you dearly.”

“I will Ms. Heliotrope, I love and miss you too.” Maria waved goodbye as the phone was passed back to Loveday, but her uncle intercepted it, planting a quick kiss on Loveday’s head as he took the phone from her grasp.

“Maria,” came her uncle’s gruff voice. Even during a pandemic, he was dressed smartly with his hair neatly combed.  “How are you doing? Do you need anything?”

“Hello uncle, I'm alright, thank you though. The care package you sent is not yet half empty.”

“Good, good. Only say the word and I’ll go pick you up myself. We miss you.”

“I miss you too but it’s too risky.”

“It’s worth the risk if it's to have you back with us.”

Maria’s heart ached. “Thank you, uncle, I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”

Finally, the phone was handed back to Loveday. “I’d ask how you were doing but it seems everyone’s done so already.” Loveday chatted away, telling Maria about how bored they’ve been.  How Marmaduke’s cooking expanded to include various intricate pastries and bread. She recounted with a laugh how only Wrolf and Georgie seemed to love their constant presence.  Though Maria laughed and nodded her head to Loveday’s words, her eyes kept darting to the background trying to see if she could spot him. Loveday grew quiet, she watched Maria with a raised brow and crooked smile, waiting to see how long until Maria noticed.

“Oh, er sorry Loveday, I don’t think I heard you. Were you waiting on my response?”

“Its alright, it seems you’re looking for someone else?”

“No, no…” Maria said sheepishly, “but earlier, Robin answered the phone. He’s back?”

“Yes love. He returned about a month ago but was quarantining at the castle. He’s now running errands and getting groceries for both of our families. I always offer to help, but he insists, and you know how he gets.”  Loveday bit her growing grin. “Do you want to talk to him? He’s playing with Georgie at the moment.”

“Sure, why not,” Maria tried to say nonchalantly. Though she never outright confessed to him, her childhood crush on Robin was no secret. But with four years her senior, Robin always brushed off any comments made about them, saying she was just his best friend. Once he compared her to a little sister. That one stung. Though Maria tried to grow out of it, even having a few boyfriends through her teens, that never stopped Loveday from trying to set them up.

The camera turned black momentarily before turning back on. They were in the parlor now. Robin was on the floor, playing with Georgie and his action figures. Maria’s heart warmed.

His hair was much longer and held up in a messy bun much like hers, though she hated to admit he looked better in it. He wore a black t-shirt with faded black ripped jeans. There were a couple of black and silver chain bracelets on his wrist.

“Oh Robiiin,” Loveday teasingly called. “Seems like someone misses and wants to talk to you.”

“Loveday stop playing!” Maria hissed under her breath, feeling her cheeks grow warm.

Robin jogged over to the phone with a merry grin on his face. Loveday flipped the camera back around, blew a kiss at Maria with a wink, and passed the phone to Robin.

“Hey,” Robin greeted. “Cleaned your face?”

“No!” Maria lied against the growing blush.

“It’s alright princess, not all of us can look as good as I did in smeared eyeliner.”

“Oh please, you mean that emo phase you went through?”

Robin stilled. The corners of his mouth turned up into a faint smile. He shut his eyes as he threw his head back and clutched Georgie’s toy like a microphone. “I got your picture! I'm coming with you! Dear Maria count me in!” Robin sang at the top of his voice.

“Oh god no! Not that song again! You were so annoying! I’ll hang up if you don’t stop right now!” Maria threatened through Robin’s laughter.

“It wasn’t a phase. It was a lifestyle! I’m thinking of bringing it back. Reckon I’ll look better with it now.”

“Ugh, your ego has grown along with your hair.”

“Wouldn’t yours too if you looked this good in a bun?”

“Please, I’ve seen better.”

“Oh yeah, name a few.”

“Chris Hemsworth, Ben Barnes, Jason Mamoa, Orlando Bloom, Timothée Chalamet—”

“Alright, alright, I get it. And please don’t get me started on that Chalemutwat. Such a sap, can’t believe that’s what girls are into nowadays.”

“You're just sore you don't fit the profile anymore. Face it Robin, the rock and leather days are long gone. It's all about k-pop and softbois now.”

“Softboys are just fuckboys with flowers in their hair,” Robin grumbled in disgust.

Maria snorted, thinking about the time he wore a flower crown for a May Day festival. “So, I heard you got back a month ago?”

Robin was walking out of the manor. She could see the setting blue sky and moving landscape in his background. “Yeah… The parks closed down. Figured it was time to come back home. I’m surprised you aren’t here.”

“Aww miss me?”

Robin shrugged his shoulders and looked away. “Want to see the gardens?” Robin flipped the camera, showing her around the manor grounds. As he walked her through, he talked of how covid affected his job. The craziness of people. How some thought escaping to the outdoors was the solution, only to end up trampling on preserved wildlife and littering about.

Maria had settled down, resting her cheek on the palm of her hand, she wore a wistful look across her face with a soft smile. Robin paused. His eyes focused on the screen, and he swallowed.

“Such a shame that happened to the park,” Maria said. “I’d be heartbroken if something like that happened to your forest.”

Robin cleared his throat, “Erm-yeah. Really annoying.” He forced his eyes back to the gardens as he continued on his way.

The camera stopped moving as he sat by a tree and flipped the camera back on him. 

“You got an earring?” Maria asked leaning closer to the screen.

“Yeah, was thinking about it for a while.”

“Ooh! Show it to me.”

He brought the phone close, it was a black stud, with a charm of a red feather.

“I like it.”

“Looks good on me, eh?”

“Bring that ego down a notch and then we’ll see. How’s your father, I’m guessing he had to stop with his falconry lessons?”

“Yes, we shut down the school temporarily. The castle feels lonely.”

“I’ve always wanted to learn.”

“Really? I’ll teach you when you get here.”

“Okay! Oh, I took up archery—Well before covid shut it down.”

“No way.”

“Yeah, I can teach you that!”

“Sounds like a deal,” Robin paused, “are you really not coming back soon?”

“Oh, I don’t know. What if lockdown ends?”

 “Don’t bet on it. Words going around it’ll be like this until the vaccine comes out. Give it another six months, maybe a year.”

“A year?”

“Yep.”

“Bloody hell.”

Robin frowned. “When did you start cursing?”

“I’ve learned a thing or two at uni. Even got drunk!” Maria said with a proud grin.

Robin’s face fell. “When was this? Who were you with?”

“Oh, lay off. You’ve gotten drunk plenty of times. Don’t forget about that time you broke your arm after trying to climb my tower.”

“That’s not the problem. You’re tiny. Were you with trusted people? Who took you home?”

“Relax birdboy, I was with friends. We went to a pub. I got tipsy, not black-out drunk. My roommates and I walked ourselves home. I didn’t even have a hangover. And I’m not tiny, I’m average.”

“Just barely,” Robin said with a snort though he seemed to relax back against the tree. “Never, ever, get drunk without someone you truly trust. And remember the pack rule. People are shifty.”

“I know, I know. I still remember your lesson before I left for school. Besides with this pandemic, doubt that’ll be happening anytime soon.” Maria told him about school. The weird things she’s seen on her classmate’s cameras. How everyone seemed to care less and less. She was over it all.  

“You should just come back to Moonacre. Study from here. Even my friends are back, they’ve been helping me fly the falcons.”

“The gangs back too? So not fair. I miss them,” Maria whined. “I want to, but it’s too dangerous. My uncle’s the only one working right now, and the upkeep of that old manor is so expensive. I can’t risk their health. If I could get home safely, I would be there in a heartbeat.”

Robin got pensive. “Alright. Well, hopefully I’ll see you soon.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “I just told you that’s not likely. I already feel bad enough as it is. Don’t rub it in.”  

Robin shrugged his shoulders, “Never say never. I should let you go now, it's late and Loveday’s phone is about to die.”

Maria pouted, surprised to see the clock in the corner of her screen read 8:47 pm. “Wow, we don’t speak for ages and you’re already wanting to hang up. I see how it is.”

Robin shook his head with a chuckle and a sad look across his eyes. “You know that’s not the case,” he said softly.

“I know. I’m only teasing. Good night Robin. I…I miss you.”

“Good night princess. I miss you too.”

The screen turned black. Instead of Robin’s face, she now sat staring at her own glum reflection.

8:49 pm.

She closed her laptop and stared at the photo collage above her desk. Pictures of her adventures with friends and family adorned the board. In the middle was one of her and Robin competing in a race at that May Day Festival. Still wearing the flower crown, Robin was giving her a piggyback ride. She was laughing.  They lost after Maria freaked out when a bee landed on a flower in front of her nose, causing Robin to trip. It was the last thing they did before her leaving to school.

Sitting back up, she opened up her essay and began to type. Wondering when she would see him and her family again.

…A few weeks later…

A resounding knock came from the door. Maria frowned. She hadn’t ordered dinner yet… It was probably some package getting delivered. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back to work, deciding to deal with it later... Until the knocking came again. Then her phone lit up. Maria glanced at the screen, wondering who could be calling: Robin.

[soulmate-game]

Someone on A03 asked how the Kent’s and Wayne’s in my Songs of a Kent series would react to Marinette knowing Jagged Stone.

I decided to just go ahead and give the headcannons I have for this, since I don’t think I’ll be able to cover it in the story. But as far as Lament of a Kent and any other installments in the series go, everything below is canon.

—*—*—*—*—*

I don’t think Jon or Clark would care. They’re both country boys at heart, and are more likely to swoon over a country singer than a rock artist. Lois, though? I think Lois had a crush on Jagged when she was a teenager (for the purposes of this story, Jagged and Lois are almost the same age) when he was just starting to get popular. So she would totally have an internal freak out if Jagged ever visited Mari, but she would try to play it off cool because she is a Suave and Professional Interviewer, she’s met tons of famous people, she can handle this. Totally.

Kon would go nuts. Jagged is one of his idols, both in fashion sense and music. He would play it off cool as possible in front of Jagged, but when he’s gone he’d unapologetically call Mari his favorite sibling and fanboy with her over meeting his idol.

Now, the Wayne’s? It is no secret, every last one of them had an angsty punk/emo phase— one that Jason clearly never grew out of. Every last one of them, except Damian, wandered upon Jagged’s music sometime during their teen years and it fueled their rebellious phase and seriously helped them gain more confidence in themselves. Dick suggested that Damian listen to Jagged’s music about a year or so before the story begins, so he’s still a baby fan. But he likes the music, not that he’ll ever admit it to anyone. He listens to Jagged when he paints, now. But if they were to find out that Mari knew Jagged personally, all of them except Damian would immediately bombard her with questions or beg her for stories. Tim would ask about the rockstar’s favorite foods and drinks and other weird trivia. Dick would want all the stories of the craziest things he and Mari did together. Jason would just want her to ramble to him about random memories of her and Jagged. Damian would pretend to be disinterested, but listens whenever the topic is brought up.

None of them know that Bruce and Jagged went to high-school together, so Bruce just hangs back and watches the chaos with a smirk as he plans to invite Jagged over behind all of their backs. He also, by virtue of being his friend when his music career first began, is Jagged’s Number One Fan. Secretly, of course. None of the kids know that Bruce has signed copies of every last one of Jagged’s albums, including the ones where Marinette had designed the covers. He even has one of Jagged’s old tour outfits that Jagged gave him as a joke— he keeps it in a glass container like the old robin costumes, but in a hidden part of the wall that only he and Alfred have access to/know is there. His secret Jagged Stone collection also contains tons of pictures of him and a young Jagged at various concerts and even just hanging out, and lots of other fan collectibles and limited edition Jagged Stone merch. It’s great.

[teenagegothintegrity]

ive been reading the new buffy comic series and i have all kinds of modern buffy headcanons

buffy was a horse girl in elementary school

willow was obsessed with the warrior cats series as a kid

oz was a wolf kid. the irony is not lost on him.

also oz is trans

xander is bi

xander plays overwatch and mains soldier 76 and was delighted when blizzard made him canon gay

buffy listens to 80s pop when she works out

also she listens to kesha

xander secretly stans the dixie chicks and dolly parton

oz doesn't have a vape, but he steals devon's to do shitty vape tricks

willow's current favorite show is good omens

xander had huge crushes on both keifer sutherland and jami gertz after watching the lost boys as a kid

dawn is one of those girls that knows literally everything about one direction

one time, she and janice got caught stealing stuff from walmart. janice had about $30 worth of lipstick on her, and they normally would've called the cops on her, but since dawn was there too they divided the cost between the two of them and just banned them from the store (based on a true story)

willow's favorite show as a kid was cyber chase

also she had a crush on sheigo from kim possible as a kid

other Childhood Willow Crushes ™ include sam manson from danny phantom, gwen from total drama island, lily from hannah montana, and maddie from sweet life of zack and cody

willow listens to florence + the machine, evanescence, and hozier

xander watches markipler and jacksepticeye religiously. he was also super into pewdiepie back in his amnesia days but stopped watching when he realized how goddamn racist he is

buffy watches pimple popping videos when she gets stressed

jesse (i don't care if he's not in the comics, i like him) almost ate a tide pod but willow smacked it out of his hand and gave him and xander a 20 minute lecture on the dangers of internet trends

jesse's twitter is still up. sometimes xander messages him when he really misses him, but mostly he just reads their old messages and looks at all the pictures they have together

willow makes friendship bracelets and she makes a bi pride one for xander after he comes out

tara was a potterhead, while willow was a percy jackson fan. she also LOVED a series of unfortunate events

xander? t posing for dominance? it's more likely than you think!

robin used to have a decent following on vine

cordelia made musicallys in middle school

harmony still does them on tiktok

willow occasionally posts youtube videos teaching people how to fix their iphones themselves

oz had an intense emo phase in middle school and still to this day loves mcr with a passion

willow, xander, and jesse had a really intense naruto phase together in like 6th grade

jesse was a total weeb

giles was like. really into nirvana

[problematicbatfam]

Tim and Jason went through an emo phase at the same time. (except only Jason grew out of it)

OKAY lemme tell u all a lil smthing…

TIM, okay, is not quite still in his emo phase, but like is… kinda. So back in the good ol’ days, he was like 100% EMO TRASH like he got the skinny jeans, that MCR shirt everyone has, and he would go OUT OF HIS WAY to go against what was ‘cool’ or ‘in’ bc he’s ~not like other guys~. BUT after the job really set in, he literally lost all motivation for anything, like nowadays he doesn’t really get dressed (except for the Red Robin getup duh) he just kinda wears pajama pants and whatever shirt he could find on the floor that morning (and that does not exclude shirts on any other of the kid’s floor) but like the problem with this is his wardrobe is still 107% ALL BLACK and he definitely still has those ~not like other guys~ vibes but is too tired to care. SO whenever he has to actually get dressed he is forced to wear all black (bc as I said ONLY BLACK) and like super tight skinny jeans and it makes the fam SO CONFUSED TIM WTF THOSE PANTS. And whenever he gets enough sleep (haha good joke) to actually function he actually is EMO and randomly says like those iconic emo phrases and is totally ~not like other guys~ and it just throws the fam off (except Al, cause, like he’s there with his silver platter all, like “No, Master Drake, you are most definitely not the living embodiment of the black abyss”).

AND THEN WE GOT MY MAN JASON. So like after Bruce adopted him he was the TRUE EMO. Like it was one of those painfully effortless emos that makes every emo ASPIRE to be him. But then he died. BUT THEN HE CAME BACK TO LIFE. So by now, you’re thinking oh, he probably grew out of it, right? Like he doesn’t have the time to care, right? WRONG. No one knows how he does it but he is able to not care about what he wears, does, or says BUT STILL SOMEHOW is the TRUE EMO that everyone aspires to be. it’s 500% effortless and it makES EVERYONE SUPER MAD. He commonly sets the trend for any emos in Gotham who just are lucky enough to walk by him on the street. And how could I forget the emo phrases… THIS MAN IS A GOD. His phrases are nothing like Tim’s, they’re more like snarky comebacks and SASSY EMO. And like when he was a bby he had a nick for these phrases but after he died and came back to life they all got 700% BETTER like: “There’s a special place in hell for you, Jason” “Yeah, the throne” etc. etc. Not to mention his GLARE oh my god this boy. Most emos glare at people and like everyone just rolls their eyes in return, but when THIS BOY GLARES holy shit. He’s got it MASTERED. No matter, race, religion, sex, or sexuality his glare will ABOLISH you. There is only one person in the world Jason has never intimidated… Alfred, he tried once… then he ran into a wall. He never tried it again..

[electricdazemag]

Mansions: Interview

words by Sarah Uluave and Majed Alkhadher, photo courtesy of Mansions

Mansions is a rock band hailing from Louisville, Kentucky currently residing in Seattle, Washington. They’ve traveled all over the US music scene the last ten years, touring with names like Hellogoodbye, The Front Bottoms, Taking Back Sunday, The Get Up Kids, and La Dispute, continuously giving their dedicated fanbase what they’ve claimed to be “the best live shows they’ve ever seen.” Their fuzzy sound gives them a signature edge, with songs reminiscent of the 90s emo rock we all love. Our writer, Sarah, is joined by a friend and fellow Mansions fan Majed as they chat with lead Christopher Browder about the band, WWE, and plans for upcoming music.

Electric Daze (Sarah): Who is Mansions?

We're a rock band. We tend to lean towards the fuzzier side of pop songs. Mansions started as my solo project, with me playing all of the instruments, and only playing shows that were acoustic. Since then, we've gone through a few different band members but nowadays it’s a pretty solid lineup. It’s much more collaborative, louder, and well, a band, versus the singer-songwriter kind of thing that it was in the beginning.

ED (Sarah): When you say your music got “louder,” do you think that was influenced by playing live shows?

I mean it definitely makes a difference. Louder songs are more fun to play. The downer kind of stuff is more fun to record, but it’s hard to be playing that out in front of people. My taste has changed over the years as well, so that made a big difference in the band sound.

ED (Sarah): Who are your biggest music inspirations?

Like I said, my taste changes over time. I go through phases where there will be certain bands that I listen to tons and tons, and then move onto the next one. Bands like Spoon, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem…Ryan Adams was a big influence on me for a long time. There’s a lot of stuff that I grew up listening to, like The Get Up Kids and bands from that era, and they shaped a lot of how I played guitar and how I think songs should be structured. When you get that kind of influence when you're first starting to write songs, it sticks with you for a long time. But there are also artists today, like Kanye West, who I really like too. I’ve been able to pull inspiration from whatever I happen to be listening to at the time.

ED (Sarah): Was there a defining moment or time where you knew you had to pursue music as a profession?

Yeah definitely, when I was playing in bands in high school, I realized it was something I enjoyed in a totally different way than anything else that I enjoyed. Despite how much I loved it, it still seemed pretty far-fetched because the distance from being a local band to getting to actually tour felt pretty wide. So then I went on to college and was only doing music on the side but right when I was getting ready to graduate, I started getting interest from some different managers. And then Doghouse Records got interested, and I was like "Oh! This could actually happen, I could actually do this.” It's taken all sorts of weird turns since then, but I think that's when it became a real possibility and not just a dream.

After that, the struggle was constantly having to look for moments that really inspire you to do it. Especially if you're doing it full-time because it can become less of a fun hobby and becomes more work. So you just have to continuously remind yourself what “creating music” really is.

ED (Sarah): Do you have any examples of moments where you were re-inspired?

About a year ago, I realized I hadn’t really been interested in seeing live shows of bands for a long time. I think we had played so many shows that it just wasn’t as interesting anymore. But over this past summer, all of us in the band were at Bumbershoot and Tame Impala was playing, and seeing them play live...how loud it was and hearing how good they were live, it was like, "Oh my god, this is incredible. I want to be playing shows." It's good to be re-awakened a little bit.

ED (Sarah): That’s so cool. Your music is constantly changing with different tastes and inspirations, but since you've been around for a few years now, do you feel like there's anything fundamental to your sound that really defines you as Mansions?

I think so, the struggle is always wanting to keep those things that sound like us without repeating ourselves or being too predictable. I think in general there's a lot of fuzzy, distorted sounds that I know I gravitate to. I'm not really interested in pretty, clean sounding things. A lot of our songs will be pretty and nice sounding but then I like to throw some noise on it and make it a little bit dirtier and distorted.

ED (Sarah): For the last few months on social media, you’ve been eluding to new music coming in 2017, care to give any details about that and what and when?

There's not a lot of details that are concrete, we're still kind of figuring out whether it’ll be a full length or an EP. We did a batch of songs that I've been living with for maybe a year or two. We feel good about them and want them to come out, and more is coming. We just recorded drums for a bunch of them in December 2016, so that was the first step to making real versions of them. They're coming along so I'm eager to get stuff out there. It feels like it's been a long time, but we want to make sure we have enough songs for a full length set. There comes a point where I'd rather put 6 songs out now then wait another year to let out 10 instead, just to keep things from getting too stale. I think I'm just really attached to the album format because that's what I grew up listening to. But people consume music pretty differently now; it’s not necessary to have a full-length because it's not like you're putting a CD in your car and you need to have it be worth your time putting in your CD player, y’know?

ED (Sarah): Yeah because nowadays you can just plug your phone into your car and listen to whatever you want to play.

Yeah exactly. I wouldn't just want to put out two songs or anything like that, but doing a nice, little collection that makes sense together would be fun. I'm excited for people to hear the songs, I think they sound cool and they're a good continuation of what we're doing, but still different enough that it's interesting.

ED (Majed Alkhadher): You’ve said that Doom Loop is a little bit less "woe is me" like Dig Up the Dead and a little more "fuck you, whatever." What kind of a transformation can be expected between Doom Loop and future music?

It's hard to say right now before the stuff is done, before we ever work on anything I kind of have a list of things in my head that I want it to be like. “I want it to sound like this” or “I want accomplish that” or “these are some other things I want to try,” but it doesn't necessarily come out like that. You still have to just roll with the songs and see where it goes. I don't think it's going to be heavier than Doom Loop but not as much of a bummer record like Dig Up the Dead was - not like there's anything wrong with that at all, but it's just a different time in our lives. I think there's a little more of electronic influence on some of these, but still plenty of guitars. It's cool now because we got to work out the songs a little bit with the three of us playing them in a room, which is different than anything we've been able to do. Before, we had never played the songs together until the record was already out. So it's cool to get to play them together; however, at the same time we haven’t been touring in a while so I don't know what is going to happen with us as far as touring later. What's kind of nice with the songs is that it doesn't matter if we can play them live or not, we get to just kind of experience with them and try different things that don't necessarily have to be doable live. It grants us a lot of freedom.

ED (Majed): Will Robin's vocals return? I know that she sings the "80 fucking dollars" from ‘Two Suits,’ will that sort of thing happen in the future projects?

I'm sure she'll do some background vocals. I always like it, I think it sounds really good. I don't think any of the songs have that kind of duel vocals like ‘Two Suits,’ at least so far. But I'm sure she'll be doing something.

ED (Majed): I've noticed on some recent records that you've distanced yourself from programmed beats, do you have a dedicated drummer that you're playing with and are going to tour with?

Yeah we have a drummer now, his name is John Momberg. He was recommended to us by a friend years ago and started playing with us in fall 2012 when we went on tour with Taking Back Sunday. He's a really great drummer and a really good person so he fit in well with us. He’s been on tours with us since then. He played on Doom Loop and he's playing on the new songs too, but there will still be some kind of electronic beats in there. On Doom Loop there was originally more programmed beats, but he ended up doing some cool stuff that sounded drum machine-ee in a way that was way cooler than the programmed stuff, so I think there will be some kind of mix of programmed and raw beats from him on this record. He tour manages a big hip-hop guy so he has a foot in that world too, so he appreciates all kinds of beats as much as anyone.

ED (Majed): You guys are WWE fans right?

Oh yeah I definitely am. It's kind of embarrassing. I was a wrestling fan as a kid, and even then I kind of knew it was embarrassing it so I didn't really tell anybody about it. But then randomly a couple years ago I saw that it was on TV and I was like "I'm going to watch that, and it's going to be so funny." After that, it slowly it started sucking me back in and now I'm a full-blown fan again. It's cool, there's a lot to it. It's totally dumb on one level, but it's also unlike anything else. It’s funny because there’s surprising amount of people in bands that we've met that are into it too. It's kind of a weird secret club. In the last year or so it's become a little bit more accepted to say he's so I've been seeing people come out of the woodwork a little bit. I like real sports too, and I think when real sports are really great, it's when there's a really good story behind it. Like when you think about the Chicago Cubs winning this year! What was interesting about that was all the history and the storyline of it. So in pro-wrestling, even though the roles are predetermined, its purpose is still for a storyline. You're guaranteed to have an interesting story line and an interesting twist. A lot of it is terrible and you hate what they're doing but then they get the twist so perfect. And I mean the athletic part of it is cool to. It’s super cool to me that they don't actually kill each other when they're doing with this crazy stuff. Yeah I guess people get hurt but people aren't like dying all the time. We went to one of the events in person, and it's really impressive what they're doing. People always get hung up on the fact that it's fake, but like, duh of course it's fake! That's what's interesting about it! It's fun to try to figure out the storyline and where it's going and when something happens, you're like you're there probably setting up for this and that later on.

ED (Sarah): Do you think WWE has affected the way you write music?

Probably not, maybe if we heard one with a good theme song or something but usually the theme songs are pretty bad. It probably just distracts me just from when I should be working on music.

ED (Sarah): Other than the WWE questions, I have a few questions that fans are always wondering about their favorite bands. First and foremost, do you have any favorite cities?

We have favorite clubs for sure, like Cats Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. It's really great. Chapel Hill. New York is always exciting. There are those shows that are always a pain in the ass because of all the people on the guest list or being worried that your trailer is going to get stolen but those shows are always really fun. Chicago is really good, too. I'm trying to think of any that are less predictable…Atlanta is always been pretty good to us. It just depends. We live in Seattle but the Seattle shows are often the worst on the tour to be completely honest…except last time we came through Seattle it was actually really fun! So I guess I shouldn't talk trash about home. Seattle is great.

ED (Sarah): A lot of artists find it easier to write music on the road, was this the case for you?

No, I don't think I ever wrote a song on tour. There's just too much to do and I was usually tour managing us as far as like figuring out the logistics of what we need to do. So between driving and sleeping, there's not really much time. Sometimes I would work on lyrics if I already had a song going and I wanted to just work on the lyrics. It's a lot easier now for me to work on songs. But at the same time I have a full on full-time job at home and it takes up a lot of time.

ED (Sarah): What do you do as a full-time job if you don't mind me asking?

I work an office job, sort of like an IT thing. It's really nice, it takes off the financial pressure of working in the music industry. It gives me more freedom. The reason the album has been taking a while is because there's no rush to put it out. It's just once we think the songs are good enough, then will put out a record. But we don’t need to put out a record because we need to get back on tour or need to try to make money or keep people’s attention, which is kind of nice. It feels more like when we were working on music before we ever signed to a label or anything. It’s more about doing it because we want to and because it means something to us versus having to do it because we need to pay the bills

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Connect with Mansions at thisismansions.com, on Instagram at @mansions, on twitter at @MANSIONS, and on tumblr. at @mansions​